A star challenge

Hi everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend. I decided to ditch laundry and play a bit--laundry will ALWAYS be there, right? And today I wanted to jump in on the challenges over at the Simon Says site and CAS-ual Fridays site. At the Simon Says site, we were challenged to make a card using stars. I immediately knew what patterned paper I'd be using! Then, at the CAS-ual Fridays site, the challenge was to make a masculine card using patterned paper.

Here's my card. The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye (I think) and I layered some red cardstock. I used a "go-to" sketch from Paper Crafts magazine and I really like it. I added some star brads along the top of the sentiment strip and cut out a diploma stamp. I then added some faux white stitching and the card was done. Easy! :) Thank you so much for stopping by and enjoy Memorial Day...to those that are military families, thank you for your sacrifice... Pat

Simon Says...male card...

Hi everyone, I hope everyone is having a good week...it's a 3 day weekend coming up and I'm looking forward to some family time! Tonight I wanted to join in on the challenge at the Simon Says Stamp site. The challenge was to make either a Father's Day card or a male card. I have a friend who asked me to make a card for her grandson--her only grandson--and this was the perfect challenge to pair the request with!

The little boy is turning 2 and is a HUGE fan of tractors! I believe the birthday party is also a farm theme party so I knew I wanted to incorporate that into the card. A friend let me borrow the stamps for the card--sorry, I can't remember the company that makes the stamps! I used colored pencils on most of the image and paper pieced a lot of the tractor and the chicks. Took some work but I really like how it turned out... Thanks for stopping by--and for all the lovely comments, too. They put a smile on my face every time! Pat

To heat or dry emboss...Lawnscaping challenge card

I am so excited to be feeling better AND having a chance to make some cards! I know there's tons of work to do tomorrow...but it's been so long since I've felt good that I'm going to milk it tonight for all it's worth! :) When it comes to making cards, embossing is one of my all-time favorite techniques...It makes me happy! :) So when I saw that the Lawnscaping challenge site wanted us to create a card by either heat or dry embossing, I knew I wanted to play along. Here's the challenge logo and my card:

If you knew me, you'd know that I tend to not spend oodles of time on cards...I like the clean, elegant, simple-yet-quick method...Homeschooling 2 boys doesn't give me the luxury of wanting "perfect" cards. However, for this card, I easily spent double the normal time...AND this is the 4th try to get it the way I wanted! I started out by heat embossing the red Hero Arts heart and then making a mask of it. I then placed the mask on top of the heart and stamped the music note background (I think the company was called Impression Obsession). Then, I heat embossed the music notes. I added the sentiment and some small gems and the card was done...I guess since I was adamant about the vision in my mind, I refused to give up when the card wasn't working out right. I'm happy with the card now, though...And I'll save it for my anniversary in a month. :) Hope everyone has a good night and thanks for stopping by! Pat

A Play Date with Simon Says

Here's post #2 for the day! :) I love the challenges on the Simon Says site. This week's challenge was to create a clean and simple card. Truth be told, this is one of the hardest techniques for me! Mainly because I LOVE to emboss things and distress things. But, when I saw the challenge at the Play Date Cafe, I was immediately drawn to it! Here's the challenge photo:

Clean and simple was the name of this card! I used some patterned paper from My Mind's Eye and then stamped the circle sentiments in black. Then, I stamped the small birthday cake in mustard seed distress ink and the card was done! It was so fast and simple, I'm thinking of making a ton of them so I can always have some b-day cards on hand. I think the clean and simple challenge is almost over but there's still time to join the Play Date challenge. :) Thanks for stopping by! Pat

Dusting off with a MOJO :)

Hi everyone! So sorry for the absence...I have been in bed quite a bit--still battling this bronchitis and coughing thing. BUT, I feel much better today...and decided to celebrate by making some cards! So, this will be the first of--not sure how many posts! :) First up, A Blog Named Hero challenged us to use some stamps/products that we haven't used in a while...LOVE that challenge! And, of course, I might as well use a sketch for inspiration. I hadn't joined in on a MOJO Monday in many weeks so I chose to jump in! Here's the sketch and the challenge pic:

Here's my card. I left the sketch as it was...just changed the flower to a cupcake since it's a birthday card. I used to use the Birthday definition from Hero Arts all the time and it's been ages since I used it. And there was a brand new Penny Black Happy Birthday Eye chart stamp that was itching to be used...so I paired the two stamps on this card. The little cupcake is a Martha Stewart punch and I used my cuttlebug to emboss the bottom portion with some stripes and the top portion with some swirls that I then added some stickles to. Cute card and not too complicated, either. Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope everyone is having a great week! Pat

Using a favorite stamp!

Hi everyone! Happy Mother's Day! I decided to start celebrating my day by playing...laundry can wait, right? :) Anyway, there were tons of challenges that I wanted to jump in on and I felt a bit inspired so I raced to my room as soon as the kids were in bed so I could play a bit. I am playing along with 3 different websites--2 of which I just stumbled yesterday! The first is Simon Says Stamp and Show and they are basically asking us to use our favorite stamp...there was no way I was going to pass that up! The second site that was new to me is called retro sketches and if there's one thing I love--it's sketches! Then, I joined in the color challenge over on the Lily Pad site that I also enjoy very much! Here's the sketch and color palette that I used for my card:

Here's my card. First off, I LOVE the damask fabric stamp from Hero Arts...I love embossing it and using inks to add color to it. Here, I actually used gelatos...talk about easy AND vibrant colors, too! I didn't stray or vary the sketch very much because I actually liked the way it was laid out originally. The card was pretty easy to do yet I love the colors in it. They're bright and vibrant and it makes me think of someone that is filled with joy--they just shine! Anyway, hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday and thank you so much for stopping by! Pat

Another graduation card

Hi all! Yes, it's my THIRD post today! Kids are in bed, hubby is watching a basketball game, and I am "resting" from bronchitis by doing what relaxes me the most--making cards! And, for tonight's card I went with a challenge over at the new A Blog Named Hero site. Really fun site to check out if you haven't already! The challenge was to use a sentiment in a different way. Here's the challenge poster:

I chose to make another graduation card. I used the sentiment from a Fiskars frame set that says "best wishes" on it. I stamped that as a pattern paper and then added the diploma. Easy card to make once you have all your papers. And I really liked using the tiny sentiment to make some pattern paper that goes so well with the theme of graduation. There's a few hours left to join so hop on over if you can! Good night and have a great weekend! Pat

Graduation card

I can hardly believe I'm posting twice in one day! Maybe being ordered to rest by the doctor isn't so bad?! :) This evening I wanted to share a graduation card. I have a good friend graduating soon and I also provide handmade cards to the graduates in our church so I knew I needed to start those. For inspiration, I chose to use the sketch provided by the Skipping Stones Design site. It's a clean lines kindda sketch and I love those! Here is the sketch:

I knew I wanted to use the pattern paper strip that had the soft pink and purples in it. (I think the paper stack is from Once Upon A Time.) So, I made the base a light purple and then put a darker purple on top. I added the pattern paper and added some pearls to just make it look a little more feminine. Then I added the white ribbon and stamped a diploma in dusty concord distress ink and cut it out. I stamped the sentiment in white and added a small pink flower rhinestone. Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for stopping by! Pat

A sympathy card

Hi again, Well, I've been resting quite a bit this week as I'm trying to get over bronchitis...but I'm slowly feeling more energetic and have actually gotten a couple of cards done. A very special woman from our church passed away recently and I wanted to make a card for her memorial service. I hate sympathy cards...and I will be so glad when our good-byes are done forever! I chose to use the sketch from the CardPatterns site for my inspiration. Here's the sketch:

Here's my card. I used some paper from the Luxury Stack and then used a rectangular shape instead of a circle. I wanted a pop of color so I added an orange ribbon and some glitz by adding small rhinestones. The sentiment is from Hero Arts. Hope everyone is enjoying their day and has a great weekend! Pat

CAS b-day card

Hi everyone! I have been absent for quite awhile...so sorry! But my youngest brought home a virus and now my oldest and I are fighting bronchitis. NOT fun! It's been tons of coughing and all kinds of stuff going on here so crafting has just not been on the agenda. However, the dr said that I needed to rest and that laying down makes the coughing worse. He told me to sit and rest--which, in my mind, means sit and craft! :) If I'm going to have to sit around anyway, I might as well have a bit of fun...so yesterday, I did just that! I don't have much energy so the card is clean and simple and I actually really liked how it came out. I decided to play along with the CAS-Fridays site and the Lawnscaping site. Here's the challenge pics:

Here's my card: One of my best friend's baby just turned one and I wanted to make him a cute card. I chose to use a balloon punch and ink the balloons using distress inks. Then, I used some small b-day themed stamps to add some details on the balloon and colored in some of the details with markers. My nickname for the baby is "corazoncito" which is "small heart" in Spanish so I used a small heart punch and added that to one of the balloons, too. I used a glitter pen to add some sparkle to the candles and party hat and the heart. Then, I added some twine and tied them all together. Adhered the balloons, stamped the sentiment, rounded the corners, and the card was done! Since I am on "R&R" per dr's orders, I'm hoping to maybe craft a bit more today. :) Hope everyone is doing well--stay healthy! And thanks for stopping by! Pat